Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-11

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries, people do not recycle their rubbish as much as they could.

Why do you think this is? What can be done to change this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In different countries ,individuals do not recycle their trash as much as they could.

Firstly ,i think the main reason why they do not recycle their waste is because ,they do not know how to recycle it, how to make it into a re-_useable goods or products ,for instance in Nigeria It is very rare to see recycler because they feels it is a waste of time recycling waste like plastic cans.

Additionally, lack of awareness can make them not to have interest in recycling. For instance a person do not know the important of recycling can discard his or her waste .

However, it is a very difficult task for recyclers who do their job manually ,for instance , a person who is a recycler cannot produce many things because of he or she is the only one doing the job ,it is a hard labour for him, he cannot recycle large quantity of plastics .

Furthermore ,government should provide enough equipments or facilities for recyclers ,so that they can make or produce useful things and also provide them with enough skilled workers in other to make recycling easier and faster in the country .They should employ people who are willing to work and make money out of it. Government should create awareness about the benefits of recycling to the society, they should always implement rules and regulations and also penalties for improper waste disposal.

In conclusion, lack of awareness and inadequate facilities are the major reasons why people do not recycle.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both parts of the question: you identify limited knowledge and awareness as reasons for low recycling, and suggest facilities, workers, public education, and penalties as solutions. The Nigeria example gives the discussion some context. However, the ideas are only partly developed: the example about plastic cans is brief, and the point about manual recycling focuses more on recyclers’ difficulties than on why the public does not recycle. The proposed measures are listed but not explained in terms of how they would change people’s behaviour. The conclusion restates two causes but does not summarise the solutions or clarify which measures are most important. Develop each main point with a clear explanation and a specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an opening, paragraphs introducing causes and solutions, and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Additionally,” “However,” and “Furthermore” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, progression is not always clear: “However” introduces another difficulty rather than a contrast, and the paragraph beginning “Additionally” repeats the awareness point without clearly connecting it to the first cause. Several ideas are crowded into the solutions paragraph, while the conclusion covers only some of the discussion. Use paragraphs to separate the causes from the solutions, and make each paragraph develop one central idea. More precise links between claims and examples would make the argument easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “recycle,” “waste,” “facilities,” “skilled workers,” and “waste disposal,” so the reader can understand the subject. However, the range is limited and several words or phrases are repeated, particularly “recycle,” “waste,” and “make.” Some choices are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “re-useable goods,” “important of recycling,” and “improper waste disposal” in this context. “Equipments” is also not the appropriate form for this uncountable noun. These choices sometimes make the meaning less precise, although the main ideas remain understandable. Build a wider set of accurate collocations for recycling and public policy, and check word forms and countability when editing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some longer sentences and subordinate clauses, for example, “Government should create awareness …, they should always implement rules and regulations,” but control is inconsistent. Errors in agreement and verb forms occur in “they feels” and “a person do not know,” while “because of he or she is the only one” shows a faulty clause structure. Articles and sentence boundaries are also unreliable, as in “It is very rare to see recycler” and the comma splice joining two independent clauses in the government sentence. Capitalisation and spacing around punctuation are inconsistent as well. These errors can make parts of the response difficult to read. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then combine them using correctly formed clauses and check subject–verb agreement.

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